This chapter explores how neuroscience contributes to understanding language processing. It begins with historical insights from aphasia studies, highlighting Broca’s and Wernicke’s contributions to the localization of language functions. It then reviews symbolic models developed during the cognitive revolution, such as the Physical Symbol System Hypothesis and semantic memory frameworks. While these models offer structured ways to represent linguistic meaning, they struggle with the grounding problem—how symbols connect to real-world experience. To overcome this, embodied cognition theories propose that language comprehension is rooted in sensory and motor systems. Concepts like the Indexical Hypothesis and the Immersed Experiencer Framework suggest that understanding language involves perceptual simulation and affordances. The hub-and-spoke model integrates symbolic and embodied views, proposing that semantic knowledge is distributed across modalities and integrated within the anterior temporal lobe. The chapter also discusses methods used to study language in the brain, including behavioral measures, EEG, fMRI, and neuropsychology. Finally, it explores how artificial intelligence helps analyze natural speech to detect cognitive impairments, especially in conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. This interdisciplinary overview shows how language is not only a cognitive capacity but also deeply embedded in biological, sensory, and technological systems.

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Neuroscience and Language Processing

  • Enrique García-Marco,
  • Katia Rolán

摘要

This chapter explores how neuroscience contributes to understanding language processing. It begins with historical insights from aphasia studies, highlighting Broca’s and Wernicke’s contributions to the localization of language functions. It then reviews symbolic models developed during the cognitive revolution, such as the Physical Symbol System Hypothesis and semantic memory frameworks. While these models offer structured ways to represent linguistic meaning, they struggle with the grounding problem—how symbols connect to real-world experience. To overcome this, embodied cognition theories propose that language comprehension is rooted in sensory and motor systems. Concepts like the Indexical Hypothesis and the Immersed Experiencer Framework suggest that understanding language involves perceptual simulation and affordances. The hub-and-spoke model integrates symbolic and embodied views, proposing that semantic knowledge is distributed across modalities and integrated within the anterior temporal lobe. The chapter also discusses methods used to study language in the brain, including behavioral measures, EEG, fMRI, and neuropsychology. Finally, it explores how artificial intelligence helps analyze natural speech to detect cognitive impairments, especially in conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. This interdisciplinary overview shows how language is not only a cognitive capacity but also deeply embedded in biological, sensory, and technological systems.